Our stories

Everyone has a story. Those included on this website are about the Dutch who have made a contribution to New Zealand. The size of the contribution is large, whether it was made to the nation as a whole or in their local community - and in some cases both!

For a small group of people, there are some big New Zealand "success stories" among the Dutch and we celebrate the stories, the lives and the contributions the Dutch immigrants and their families have made and continue to make to New Zealand.

Biographies, autobiographies and memoirs are an age-old method of telling someone's life story in written form, so that it can be passed down to the generations that follow. We know that there are many DutchKiwis in New Zealand with interesting stories to tell. This section of the website includes just a few of them. We plan to add many more over the course of the next few months. Read more about Read our stories

Perhaps you prefer to speak your story out loud, rather than write it down - and why not? The oral tradition of storytelling is as old as the hills. The Foundation has undertaken an Oral History project in association with the National Library, and you can hear some of the stories in this section of the website. Read more about Hear our stories

The documentary format has always been a wonderful genre of filmmaking, and we're constantly on the lookout for documentaries about Dutch New Zealanders that we can feature in this section of the website. Read more about Watch our stories

Now that you have read, listened to and watched the stories of some of your fellow DutchKiwis, perhaps you'd like to add your own story to the website, or tell us the story of how your family first left the Netherlands for a new life in New Zealand. We've set up an online form so that you can send us your story in written format, as an audio file, or as a video - and you are welcome to use multiple formats, as well as including illustrative photos of you and your family if you wish. Read more about Share your story